IIABA Helps Agents Deal With Change

"The world seems smaller with so much information," she said.

People, she observed, are looking for order in their lives, a routine that makes them feel comfortable. Change is uncomfortable, and because of that, it causes resistance, discomfort and distrust. In an agency trying to make changes, completion of needed changes may be derailed by those who are resistant to change.

Helping to achieve change, she said, can be done successfully by management when those in charge put themselves in the place of those affected by change and understand their concerns.

"You can successfully implement change when you address the fears: How is it going to impact me?" she told the audience of agents.

Those who she called the "sponsors" (the agencys managers or principals) of change "need to communicate their vision so people under them understand what is going on and are positive" about the change."

She explained that the need to meet this challenge–to discuss changes within an agency–is a long-term project that needs to be addressed early as changes are made. Otherwise, owners and managers will find themselves spending an incredible amount of time "on the back end fixing it."

"Handling change must involve a talent of caring," Ms. Egan told agents. "It is not enough to let it just happen in a corporation today. You must have your people pulling with you to have change happen for you."

The Best Practices Guide on Managing Information, noted Ms. Egan, is one tool agents can use to help them achieve change within their agency.

In a separate seminar, Laura Nettles, a technology consultant for Nettles Consulting Network based in Atlanta, gave agents some insight into the online Agency Information Management guide that is available through the IIABA home page (www.independentagent.com) under ACT (Agency Council for Technology).

Jeff Yates, ACTs executive director, who introduced Ms. Nettles, said the guide is a more than 80-page volume available to all members online and was the conclusion of work by the Council of Best Practices and ACT. Ms. Nettles, he said, played a vital role in its formation as a consultant.

Ms. Nettles reviewed how the guide can help agents successfully create a system to effectively navigate the rising "sea of technology" and make changes in their agency to effectively manage information.

"The guide provides effective solutions," she said.

Continuing with the sea metaphor, Ms. Nettles said that the guide is a ship upon which agents can build their technology needs and safely navigate the ocean of technology.

"One of the biggest mistakes made in implementing technology is not making choices," said Ms. Nettles. "Failing to define technology needs, and not addressing the issue, will not let you go through the process of making the changes you need to make."

The guide reviews the different aspects of electronic management and gives agents ways to measure, audit and implement improvements.

"If you implement the solutions in this guide, it will result in improved productivity," she told agents. "This is an ongoing process. It never stops, and you will never be done. If you use this guide, you will get results."

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, October 17, 2003. Copyright 2003 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.